Behind Closed Doors
by EnJayDee
Summary: In a dark secret passageway, Rose Weasley finds herself in a terrifying situation and the only person who could possibly help her is the one person who won't...Scorpius Malfoy.
1. Without a Wand

**A/N:** Okay, so this is a little something that I just spit out. It's new territory for me, definitely. So...I hope everyone enjoys it, and likes what I've done.

**Disclaimer:** Original story and characters are not mine.

Rose was walking down the hall, completely and totally distracted. The fact of the matter was that her boyfriend, Nate Greengrass, was a complete and total asshole. It was as if she was some disposable _thing_ he'd found one day on the cobblestones, a thing he'd deigned to pick up and keep. Rose frowned. She hated how pompous he could be sometimes.

Really, it was a wonder she ever let him become her boyfriend in the first place. One, he was a Slytherin, and that really went against her family's whole…image. Her father would have liked her to settle down with a fellow Gryffindor, or at least a Ravenclaw. Rose supposed he would have dealt with a Hufflepuff, but what Ronald Weasley really wanted was a Gryffindor. A Slytherin was most definitely out of the question. Which might have been one reason why Rose agreed to go steady with Nate in the first place. However, that was somewhat beside the point. Nate was also pig-headed and full of himself in the more annoying than sexy, confident way that may have been forgivable.

Rose did have to admit, though, he was quite good-looking, with his chocolate brown hair and amazing green eyes. Rose wasn't a dog, but it wasn't like she was some hot commodity, either. So, really, who had really settled? Nate always liked her to believe it was _he_ that had settled. She was less popular and attractive than he was, but then again, Nate wasn't the smartest or most ambitious of wizards. Rose guessed they had both settled, in their own ways. But that did not call for Nate to constantly put her down on a regular basis, especially in front of people they both knew…or people who disliked Rose just because of her parentage.

He had been quite the gentleman, once upon a time. He had wooed her in the most romantic of ways, changing the way she thought about Slytherins, especially him. She had melted to his bouquets and soft words and kind smiles. He was her first _serious_ boyfriend. Sure, Rose had gone on a few dates with Oliver Wood's son, Ian, but it just hadn't amounted to much besides a few snogs and some dinner together. Nate…Nate had really shown her what a relationship could be.

Then he'd changed, slowly but surely, he morphed into the stereotypical Slytherin. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, but it really threw Rose every single time Nate did something horrid. After the first month of it, Rose wondered if she should end it. After all, she was kind of miserable. Then Nate gave her the most precious gold bracelet with a heart on it that sparkled when he thought of her. It sparkled a lot, actually. Which made her think better of him, and more importantly, forgive him for almost anything he'd done and would do for the next two months.

However, it had been a whopping five months of complete and utter crap from him, and really, Rose felt like her youth was being wasted away on some jerk boyfriend who treated her like complete crap. She honestly sometimes would rather be single, or still going on casual dinner dates with Ian Wood.

Rose shook her head and turned a corner. There stood Nate, looking as if he had been waiting for her to turn that corner. She stopped up short and stared at him, completely surprised by his sudden appearance, especially since she had just been seriously thinking about him.

"Hey, Rose," he said in his smooth tenor voice. Rose felt her knees wobble a little bit. He was so attractive, it wasn't fair sometimes.

"Hi," she said, smiling at him, because that was her knee-jerk reaction to most things with him. He could be embarrassing her, but she would still smile at him like she was walking in a dream.

"I'm glad I ran into you, baby," he said softly, walking over to her and taking her hand gently in his. "Come on, walk with me." He tugged her forward. Rose followed like a pathetic puppy, her original destination completely forgotten. She didn't really have to be anywhere. She could skip whatever it was and be with her boyfriend. That was completely fine.

Nate led her down a hall and then through a door pretending to be a wall that not many students knew about. Mostly it was upper-classmen who used it to get to Arithmancy when they'd slept in too late. It popped up all over the place, but always ended in front of the Arithmancy classroom. Once they were inside the deserted shortcut, as it was not school hours, he pressed her against a wall and started to kiss her neck.

"Nate…" she managed to sigh. "What are you doing?"

"Kissing my girlfriend," he said against her neck, which caused something low to tighten.

"Come on, Nate, it's not romantic here."

"It's unexpected and hot, Rose, get into it," he said reasonably against her skin.

"You know how I am, Nate. I don't like to feel exposed," Rose said quietly. It probably came from having no privacy in a large family that really didn't seem to know the meaning of the words "personal space." So Rose's home life left her mostly on display for anyone who happened to be there, and with so many meddling cousins, it was easy for everyone to get a look once in a while. That was why she liked having her own private space, and why she preferred to have intimate things happen in private. Not in a shortcut hallway that could pop up in front of anyone at any time.

"Come on, Rose, I know you like it," he said into her ear seductively. Rose shook her head.

"I don't. I like to kiss you, but I don't want to do it here," she said, somewhat firmly.

"Stop being such a tease, Rose. I want you _now_, can't you let me have you?" he asked, looking at her, his eyes full of sincerity. But his tone of voice was demanding. He didn't really care that she hated being exposed.

"Have me? Are you really asking to have sex right _here_?" she asked him, completely taken aback. They'd done it already, some time ago, when most people had gone to Hogsmeade. It was perfect in every sense of the word, and Rose had felt loved and wanted and very, very safe and private. How that had somehow involved into _this_, she couldn't fathom.

"Yes, and I really think you'd enjoy it," he said, wheedling.

"No." It was a flat word, no room for negotiation. Before she could really understand what he was doing, her wand was out of her pocket, and in his robes. Shock went through her body. What was he _doing_?

"Give that back, Nate!" she nearly shouted.

"No, Rose," he said, shoving her against the wall, hands tearing her robes open. Fear gripped her in a sudden wave, freezing her body in a very frightening way. His hands felt her body, touching and squeezing that, under normal circumstances, would have sent her into a sex-induced haze of pleasure and bliss. However, all she felt now was violated.

"Get off me!" she said finally, shoving at him, her limbs coming back to life. Fighting with a brother and numerous male cousins had taught her not to back down easily. Nate was strong, though, a beater to the heart. His muscles were much bigger than hers, and he subdued her in mere minutes. Without her wand to help, Rose was caught. Was this how Muggle women felt all the time? Helpless, powerless, weak?

"Come on now, you can enjoy this too," he whispered in her ear, hands snaking underneath her skirt.

"Stop, please," she moaned, tears pricking at her eyes.

"It's so hot that you're begging," he whispered into her ear. He bit her earlobe and touched her inner thigh with rough and fast hands, moving up to her underwear. He pulled them down some and then started to unzip his pants. Rose tried to run away then, when he was distracted. But he took out his own wand and _Accio_'d her back into place. Rose hadn't been aware a person could be summoned like that, like a pencil or a book. It was a whole new level of degradation. His pants were unbuttoned now, and suddenly it hit her.

_Dear Merlin, this is actually happening_.

Nate pressed her against the wall and raised one of her legs, situating himself when suddenly someone came into the hallway. Rose nearly sagged with relief, before she saw the tall physique, green robes, and pale, blond hair. Scorpius Malfoy wasn't going to help her. He would look the other way, and there was nothing that would stop Nate now.

"Greengrass, what are you on about?" he asked, somewhat taken aback. Most of what was actually happening was hidden by their respective robes.

"Me and my girl are having a bit of private time, Malfoy, so if you could leave us to it, mate?" Nate said, casual as you please. Rose looked at Scorpius from around Nate's shoulder. She let her eyes show her fear and desperation, and quickly, before Nate turned back around to her, she mouthed,

"Please, please help me."

Scorpius stared. Rose was shoved against a wall, pleading with her blue eyes. It didn't look like much was going on. He wasn't going to blame his house and teammate for wanting to get some action in the secret passage ways. But usually Rose didn't look scared out of her mind when she was with Nate. In fact, most of the time she looked like a sickeningly sweet puppy. The way she followed him around, with goo-goo eyes was almost too adorable to look at. Which was saying something, since Rose was something of a hard-ass on a regular basis.

Scorpius struggled with something to say that might actually help her. He had no idea what was really going on, but he wasn't one to leave a desperate, frightened girl in the hands of a very strong Quidditch beater, even if that beater was her boyfriend. He was a decent guy, after all, despite what everyone always assumed about him.

"Nate…what's going on?" he asked, like it wasn't a big deal, really.

"I just told you, Malfoy," he said, a hard, impatient edge to his voice. He didn't move away from Rose, which was unusual. If he'd just been kissing her, he would have turned around. It seemed like they were in a more compromising position.

"Come on, Nate, in the secret corridor? Get some class," Scorpius said, joking. Nate laughed.

"It makes her hot, what can I say?" He grinned and Scorpius saw Rose wince out of the corner of his eye.

"I kind of killed the mood, didn't I?" Scorpius said, trying to diffuse whatever they were actually doing without implying that Nate may be in fact forcing himself on his girlfriend. From what Scorpius had heard, she was a perfectly willing lover to him, and why Nate would ever have to force her into anything was way beyond his thinking.

"Naw, just go on ahead, and we'll get back into it," Nate said, smiling. Scorpius was little disturbed to see a sick twist along the edges. Rose looked hopeless now…her face was a mask of complete and utter fear that it was near painful to look at. Scorpius started to walk away, saying,

"Hey man, sorry."

"It's alright, see you later in the common room," Nate said, turning his attention back to Rose. Rose let out a small whimper that could have been interpreted as anything: pleasure, fear, pain, ecstasy. Then Scorpius spied a wand in Greengrass's pocket that wasn't his. It was too thin to be his stockier ash wand.

_Holy mother of Merlin, it's her wand. _

Before he could think, he had Nate on the ground, stupefied. Scorpius stood there, his wand pointed at where he used to be, hand slightly shaking. He glanced at Rose, who was sporting torn robes and a skirt that was slightly off-center. Nate was covered by his own robes, but it wasn't hard to tell that he was highly aroused. Scorpius fought back bile. Rose crept into the corner of the corridor and stood there, staring at Nate's prostrate form. Scorpius bent down and grabbed two wands. He pocketed Greengrass's. Then he held Rose's out to her, slowly and cautiously.

"Here," he said softly, extending it. It took a few second before Rose reached for it. It was easy to see she felt better with it in her hand. She stood there trembling for a few more seconds, then she was in his arms, hugging him with a sheer ferocity that almost hurt. She was also weeping into his robes. Scorpius's heart stopped and he let himself think it.

He'd wanted her in his arms a long time ago.

**A/N: **So, this is what I have so far...I may or may not continue with it. It definitely has the potential to go farther...I just don't know. Give me some feedback, and I'll see what I can spit out for ya.


	2. Scorpius, A History

**A/N:** Okay, so I decided to write this second chapter. I got like, four reviews, and they all said to continue with it, at least for one more go. So here you all go, hope you enjoy. Let me know what you all think in review-land.

**Disclaimer:** All original story and characters are not copyrighted to me.

It was simple enough to understand, he supposed.

He stood at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters with his father, standing before the Hogwarts Express, butterflies in his stomach. It was first time at going to Hogwarts, and he felt sick to his stomach. His father said little, looking off in the distance. Scorpius looked up at him.

"It's time for me to go, Father," he said. His father looked down at him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It is. Make me proud, Scorpius," he said, looking at him, face serious. Scorpius nodded solemnly. He knew that it was important to do his best at school. He owed his father that much. "Your mother and I will write." Scorpius nodded again, saying nothing. His mother always wrote, no matter where she was. She hadn't come to the train station. He hadn't expected her to come. Scorpius squared his shoulders and walked onto the train, head held high.

She had red hair and blue eyes. That's all he saw of her that first night. All he had time to notice before they were separated into opposing houses. The rivalry was still strong...though perhaps not as vicious, at least not amongst the younger classes. They ended up having two classes together that year. There had been something of a baby boom in their parents' generation, so there was a record-setting number of First Years. He didn't see her much as a result. He joined the Quidditch team; he'd been playing since he could walk. He played chaser, not seeker like his father had half-heartedly when he went to Hogwarts.

Second year passed much the same as the first had. He saw his mother twice. He shared three classes with her this year. They played against each other in Quidditch in a few games. She played back-up chaser, so he didn't always go against her. It wasn't a rivalry between them. For the most part, they didn't speak to one another, besides the occasional pairing in Charms or Transfiguration.

Third year marked a change for him. His parents finalized their divorce. It wasn't a sordid affair. It was all very discreet, and without much fuss. Scorpius's life didn't change much. His mother continued to write. His father continued to write. Life carried on. He had four classes with her. Rivalries began to grow as his classmates got older. A few skirmishes in the halls, a few hexes, nothing serious. Scorpius stayed out of the action. He hung out with his friends, he went to Hogsmeade. Some of the kids in his grade started to shoot up, get taller. The girls looked prettier, more appealing to him and his friends. One even got a snog in with a Ravenclaw. Scorpius remained the same.

Fourth year was almost pure misery. Everyone was changing, maturing. He stayed the same: short, small, high-voiced. Quidditch became harder. The other players were much bigger than he was. It was hard to play against giants. For whatever reason, it was a bigger problem than it had been when he was a First Year. No new members joining the team pretty much meant that everyone was bigger than he was. He spent the year frustrated and embarrassed by his height. His father offered little comfort. His mother insisted he was a "late-bloomer." Scorpius shared four classes with her. She was growing up, becoming pretty and appealing. Boys liked her. Ian Wood became her constant companion. Scorpius stayed distant, but polite. They were paired together sometimes in Potions class, but only when Ian was not there. One of Scorpius's friends got a "girlfriend." They snogged for three weeks, then "broke up." No girls looked at him. He wasn't surprised; he wasn't tall or deep-voiced like his peers. He continued to study and play Quidditch to the best of his ability.

Fifth year came with no big event. Over the summer, he received an owl informing him that he had been named a prefect. He entered the year short, slight, and with a voice that only cracked occasionally. Girls looked past him, most actually a few inches taller than him. Scorpius briefly considered asking Nurse Harriet in the Hospital Wing if there was something wrong with him. He considered it, then dismissed it. He started to reconcile with his short stature. His friend, Dan Nott, had shot up half a head over the summer. As the school began to tower over Scorpius, he found himself in the library more and more often. At least there he knew it was alright that the bookshelves dwarfed him. She was in there sometimes. She studied diligently. Her hair had smoothed out from its original bushiness, but was still a brilliant red. Her eyes were still large, but no longer seemed too large for her face. Scorpius only held onto a select group of friends: the ones who didn't make fun of his height or slight build. He passed all of his O.W.L.s with flying colors. She did as well.

Sixth year came with pain. Puberty hit him, hard. His voice dropped several octaves over the summer. He grew to nearly two meters in height. When he walked onto the Express that first day of school, people didn't recognize him. Suddenly, all the Quidditch he'd been playing gave him muscle tone that he had somehow not had before. At 16, he was finally looking his age. He got facial hair and employed a magic razor to control the five o' clock shadow that happened at eight in the morning. His jaw squared, his face thinned. Honestly, he looked like a different person. By that time, Nate Greengrass was wooing her. He saw her in almost every class they took. They didn't actually make conversation until one day in Potions.

"So, you really sprouted up, didn't you?" she asked him. He looked up, nodded. "My brother did, too," she said, smiling. Scorpius found himself smiling back at her. They talked about nothing. He left the class feeling different.

Things were changing faster than he could have imagined. Suddenly, Scorpius was the new hot thing. Some girls had already made the rounds through the guys in his grade. They had already scoped out the attractive guys, and made their judgement against the rest. Scorpius's last-minute growth spurt pretty much sent them in a frenzy. Girls talked to him in the halls, took an interest in his schedule. They came to his Quidditch games and cheered him on. They went to the dorms afterwards for parties. Rivalries between Slytherin and Gryffindor grew to astounding proportions. House points were nose-to-nose. Scorpius was suddenly very popular with all his classmates: he was earning points in the classroom for his brains and on the Quidditch field with his playing skills. He was launched into popularity with very little practice as to how to react to it all or manage it. He was used to quiet nights in the library or amongst friends. Now he was expected to actually care about what everyone thought of him. He became very unpopular with Gryffindors, as his House's champion of sorts.

Scorpius caught the rivalry fever. Skirmishes in the halls turned to full-blown duels. With increased knowledge of hexes, the battles became more involved. Some moved outside. Some were broken up by professors. Some were not. Scorpius always ended up victorious. He did know quite a bit about spells and counter-spells. He was the best at non-verbal spells, and knew what he was doing. He continued to study in the library, but instead of just academic work, he was now researching the best boil hex or limb-tranfiguration. She was in there, too, but she no longer smiled at him. She had caught the fever too. She'd also been promoted to first-string chaser. On the field, the fought each other over the Quaffle. They began to fight in the corridors, as well. They never fought one-on-one, only in groups, mostly with other people starting the confrontation.

Scorpius had a few girlfriends, one serious. She'd ended up hurting him by sleeping with Dan Nott. In retaliation, Scorpius cursed Dan with such a strong spell, he'd ended up in the Hospital Wing for a full two weeks puking green sludge and nursing a severe case of constant vertigo. He served three detentions with his favorite professor for that one. He'd helped her correct essays for three hours. It didn't stay on his permanent record, and Dan had apologized profusely. His ex-girlfriend hadn't even so much as glanced as him. He'd considered slipping some Nosebleed Nougat into her morning scone, but had decided against it. He'd been raised better than that. But she had earned a reputation as a cheater and something of a slut. She'd done that to herself, but Scorpius couldn't lie and say he wasn't happy she'd been blacklisted in the world of girls.

Which brought him to the start of Seventh Year. He had grown another five centimeters and put on some more muscle. Other than that, not much had changed.

"Scorpius, have you finished that Arithmancy assignment yet?" Wesley Pucey asked him. Scorpius looked up from the book he'd been reading. Wesley sat across from him on one of the black couches in the Slytherin common room.

"Last lesson, yeah," Scorpius answered. Wesley looked at him, and Scorpius knew what was coming next.

"Mind letting me take a look? I can't get the last few equations," Wesley asked. Scorpius suppressed a sigh, and dug around in his school back until he located the parchment with the assignment. He flicked it over to Wesley. "Thanks man, you're a life saver," Wesley said, visibly relaxing with relief.

"I sure am, Arithmancy is next, isn't it?" Wesley nodded, scribbling on his own parchment. Scorpius smiled and went back to his book. It was just his luck that Wesley brought his own assignment to class but neglected to give Scorpius back his. It was left lying on the table next to the couch Wesley had been at. Professor Hughes granted him permission to get it after class and bring it immediately to him without having it be marked as late. She was his favorite teacher, after all, and he suspected he was her favorite student. If it had been Professor Mallory and Scorpius had forgotten his Charms essay, he'd been given half-credit.

It was as he was walking down to the common room when he realized he could have just _Accio_'d the thing to the class. Instead of tramping down the stairs to the dungeons, he did just that. Assignment in hand, he turned back around the corner he had just come from. He sighed. He would have to go back up those four flights of stairs. What a hassle. What he wouldn't give for that secret passageway that always popped up right in front of Hughes's classroom. Then he saw it down the hall. The door tried to be a wall, but from this angle, he could tell it was the door. He hurried to it, knowing that it might pop away from here only to appear somewhere else in the school. He opened the door and then stopped.

There were two people already in the passageway.

He ended up with a sobbing Rose Weasley against his chest. He began to lead her toward the opposite end of the passageway, away from Nate. She clung to his robes, and his heart beat rapidly in his chest. As much as he had never thought about it, he knew that he had wanted her for quite some time. Perhaps even as long ago as First or Second Year, before he even really knew what it meant to want someone like this.

Of course, this was about the most inconvenient time to reconcile with these feelings. It wasn't as if she was going to be looking for another boyfriend anytime soon after this incident.

_Damn you, Nate, for trying to take what she would have given to you. _

Now he had to wait for her to go through all the therapy-like shit to get over this. No way was he going to force her into anything else, that was for sure. He would wait, patient and calmly. Merlin, he was such an idiot. Why couldn't he have realized this back when he was short and unappealing to the bulk of the female population? If he had just realized this back when they were the only two studying in the library in fifth year. Then he could have asked her out, and she would have accepted. Sure, Ian might have been a hassle, but it had never really looked like they shared anything too serious. Rose didn't exactly seem the type to reject a boy based merely on his stature. Scorpius was sure they had a lot in common. It just wouldn't do him much good at this juncture in time.

"Shh, it's alright, Rose," he whispered into her hair. She walked with him to the door at the opposite end. He shoved it open and they were in front of Hughes's room. It felt like so long ago that he was trying to get back to this classroom to turn in a stupid Arithmancy assignment. Hughes was in her office next door, and Scorpius slid the assignment in the mail slot without even talking to her. "We're going to go to the Hospital Wing, is that alright?"

Rose nodded mutely. He walked with her to the Hospital Wing. She no longer clung to the front of his robes, but instead kept a grip on his arm. They passed several groups of students. A few greeted them. Not many noticed anything amiss. They got a few confused glances. Scorpius Malfoy and Rose Weasley were not a likely pair. But, no one really questioned it beyond the glance. Scorpius pushed open the double doors to the Wing, and told Rose to sit down on a bed while he went to get Nurse Harriet.

She was in her office.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy, what can I get for you?" she asked pleasantly. Scorpius hesitated. What was he supposed to say in a situation such as this?

"Erm, Rose Weasley needs your help. I brought her here. She's on a bed in the main Wing...she was attacked." Scorpius stood there, feeling completely unsure of himself. Nurse Harriet stood, all business.

"What hex, do you know?" she asked. Scorpius cleared his throat.

"She wasn't attacked with magic. Her...boyfriend forced himself on her, I believe," he clarified. Nurse Harriet paused, momentarily shocked, then quickly recovered and continued on to the main area. Rose was sitting in the same exact position in which he'd left her. Only she seemed to have done more crying. Nurse Harriet immediately dispatched a Patronus. She went to stand by Rose. She turned back to him.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, you may leave now. The Headmaster may have a few questions for you, but I believe he'll be able to locate you," Nurse Harriet said. Scorpius turned to go.

Rose looked up with panic. She didn't want Scorpius to leave. He was the only safe thing in her mind right now. He'd rescued her from her creep-boyfriend. He'd taken her to the Hospital Wing. He'd let her cry and sob and cling to him. He'd been her hero and quite the gentlemen all through it. It was a wonder that that girlfriend of his had ever cheated on him. Really, he was quite the catch.

Rose shook her head. What was she thinking? She'd just been through a traumatic experience, and she was thinking about what a _catch_ Scorpius Malfoy was? Hadn't she thought that he wouldn't help her when he'd walked into the secret passageway? Hadn't she been sure that he was going to walk away and let the whole thing happen to her? How had he mind changed so quickly in such a short period of time?

Or had it really changed? It wasn't like she had felt anything real for Nate in at least three months. She had been contemplating braking up with him for at least the same amount of time. So she really didn't feel any guilt in that sense; she didn't feel like she was cheating on her boyfriend by thinking these things. Even if Nate hadn't just proved himself to be a complete sexual predator, Rose wouldn't have felt guilt. Huh.

Scorpius was walking past her bed, not looking at her, but not not-looking at her either. He wasn't avoiding her, he was just focused on what was in front of him. Rose reached out for his hand. She caught it and he stopped moving. He looked down at her. His green-grey eyes searched her for something. Rose took a deep breath.

"Stay," she said. She breathed. She admitted it to herself.

She wanted him to stay forever.

**A/N:** Here it is. It was a different approach than the other chapter. I don't know. I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, if anyone thinks I should keep on going, I'm open to it. Just let me know what you think!


	3. The Connection

**Behind Closed Doors**

**A/N: **Here is the third chapter. It took me awhile to get this out there. An embarrassingly long time. I've been doing college work, but hopefully through more procrastination, I can finish this story within the next two weeks. I'm thinking...three more chapters? Let me know what you think in a review-and thanks to all those who have left some already! Also, this is a long chapter. About 4,000 words. If you make it through, you'll be rewarded!

**Disclaimer: **It's called _fan_fiction for a reason, i.e. I'm not JKR.

With all the new flooding of feeling engulfing her, Rose could hardly speak. Her face was flushed, and all the events of a mere fifteen minutes before seem strangely insignificant. Her heart was thumping rapidly in her chest. Scorpius looked relieved, as odd as that may sound. A slight smile lit up his face, and Rose let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Nurse Harriet sat patiently, subtly checking Rose for any major damage, but saying nothing.

Scorpius sat down next to her, not too close, but not too far away, either. She almost frowned at the decision, but then she remembered that Nurse Harriet still had to make sure there was nothing wrong with her. Which was when she started in on the questions.

That's when it got painful. Her heart started thumping, and fear pumped through her veins. It was almost like she was back there, in that dark room, wandless and weak. She hated feeling so powerless, and the feeling threatened to engulf her. But then she felt a squeeze. She looked down at her hand, and saw that Scorpius hadn't let go of it. He gave her hand another squeeze, and she looked into his eyes.

He was looking at her so intensely, she could barely think. It was all there. Her heart stopped. Dear Merlin, he felt something for her. He was gazing at her like she was the only thing that he cared about, like she was the most amazing girl he'd ever known. The thing was, though, they really didn't know each other all that well. But she felt that connection, too, as she stared back into his silver-grey-blue eyes.

Eventually, when she was done talking, Headmaster Rossherder came into the Hospital Wing. He stood there, arms crossed over his chest and looked down at the two of them. His eyes were calculating but compassionate.

"Nurse Harriet," he said, "have you seen the other boy? Greengrass?" Nurse Harriet shook her head.

"Last we saw him," Scorpius interjected, "he was laying in the secret passageway that always leads to the Arithmancy room."

"Really now? Was he hexed?"

"_Petrificus Totalus_, sir," Scorpius answered solemnly. Rossherder nodded.

"I'll see to finding him. I'll call for the both of you in the morning to talk this over again. Nurse Harriet," he said, nodding to the nurse and walking out of the Hospital Wing with a stately ruffle of deep blue robes.

"Right, Ms. Weasley, anything else you'll be requiring? Would you like to see Madame Dubois?" Nurse Harriet asked. Rose shook her head. If she went to see the counsellor, she'd feel like she needed to be counseled, and honestly, right now, she felt fine. As fine as she could, under the circumstances. "Would you like to send me an owl to your parents? Or perhaps contact them by Floo?"

Rose hesitated. She hadn't thought of that. She knew that her father would have a fit when he heard that she'd been attacked by a Slytherin, especially one he had so adamantly campaigned against. It wasn't as if he would be surprised; after all, all Slytherins were cheating, lying, not-to-be-trusted good-for-nothings. Also, most of them were direct descendants of Death Eaters. Rose didn't think Nate was; his father (who, Rose knew, was Scorpius's uncle) didn't come from a family of Death Eater like Scorpius's family.

"By Floo would be best, I think," Rose said, squeezing Scorpius's hand. Her parents would make her come home, she knew it. She didn't want to leave Hogwarts and Scorpius behind. She was sure that her father would ban her from all contact with any Slytherin, Scorpius especially. It didn't matter that he had saved her from Nate; he too was a Slytherin and held the same potential that Nate did for attacking her.

"Alright then dear, let me get the powder," Nurse Harriet sat, patting her knee as she got up. "I'll be right back." She walked out of the room and headed into her office. Quickly, before she came back and before Rose let herself think about it too much, she turned to Scorpius.

"Scorpius," she whispered. He turned to look at her.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Stay still," she said, and leaned up and into him, placing her lips against his firmly, but quickly. Before he had any time to react either way, she sat back and released his hand, looking away from him as the blush crept up her face. There was silence on his end. Nurse Harriet walked into the room, holding a black bag full of Floo powder.

"This isn't over, Weasley," Scorpius whispered underneath his breath. Rose turned to look at his face, but there was no sign that he had said anything as Nurse Harriet spoke.

"Would you like me to talk to them, or would you prefer it?"

"Why don't you?" Rose suggested. She nodded and pinched a small amount between her thumb and forefinger. She released it into the fireplace, called out Rose's address, Pemberton Place, and stuck her head into the fire.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked Scorpius underneath her breath. "What isn't over?" Scorpius turned to look at her. He looked right into her eyes, and Rose suddenly had a hard time breathing.

"You can't just-" he began, but Nurse Harriet's voice broke through, calling,

"Mrs. Weasley? Mr. Weasley!" She backed out of the flames.

"No one seems to be home, dear. Maybe I should try their office?" Rose nodded. Nurse Harriet took another pinch of Floo Powder and tossed it into the fire, calling out "Ministry of Magic, Hermione Granger!" before she stuck her head in again. Once her attention was once again diverted, Scorpius looked at Rose.

"You can't just think that you can go about kissing me, and expect me not to-"

"I'm sorry, Scorpius. I really shouldn't have. I'm obviously under a lot of stress, what with the recent events, and what with you saving me, it's only natural that I would form an attachment to you and need, in some way, to show my gratitude. It makes sense that the way my subconscious chose to do that is by kissing you, as the nature of my trauma was sexual. In a way, I was claiming back my right to choose, and it's only natural for something like to happen, under the circumstances," Rose bumbled, looking at her hands.

"Are you trying to tell me that you kissed me because you're off your rocker?" Scorpius asked.

"I'm not crazy Malfoy," Rose said, glancing at him angrily.

"That explanation sure sounded like it," he said, smirking at her. What an ass. What an attractive, brave ass.

"Rosie!"

Rose jerked her head in the direction of the fireplace and saw her mother standing there, looking a little sooty.

"Mum!" Rose said, jumping up and running into her arms. She started to cry again. Her mother stroked her hair and cooed into her ear. In all the commotion, especially when her father appeared, shouting about killing Nate with his bare hands, Rose didn't even notice when Scorpius slipped out of the Hospital Wing.

So when she looked over at her bed, planning on telling her parents that it was Scorpius, yes, Scorpius _Malfoy_, that had saved her, she was sad to see it empty. A sudden wave of sadness rolled over her. She'd kissed him, and then mucked it all up by giving him to rambling reply about how she hadn't actually meant it, when it had meant more to her than anything in a long, long time.

Scorpius was cornered by Albus Potter and Hugo Weasley on his way down to the Great Hall for dinner. He'd slipped out of the Hospital Wing once Rose's dad had started threatening every Slytherin in the whole of Hogwarts. He knew that, despite his role in Rose's saving, Ron Weasley wouldn't have made an exception for Scorpius.

"You! Malfoy!" Albus shouted, running to him, wand out and pointing right between Scorpius's eyes. Scorpius stopped, stunned momentarily by the bit of wood crossing his vision.

"Yeah?" he asked. Albus had started a duel with him before. Being a year younger than him, and the sworn enemy of his father, Albus had decided that he constantly needed to prove himself better than Scorpius. Most of the time Scorpius blew him off, walked away. It was hard to ignore a wand between the eyes, though. Hugo stood behind him, wand out, but not as well-put as his cousin's.

"What did you do to Rose?" Albus demanded angrily. Scorpius took a step back, hitting a wall.

"Nothing," he said.

"Then why is she in the Hospital Wing? Sean Macmillan told me you'd attacked her!"

"Yeah," chimed in Hugo. Really, Rose was Hugo's bleeding sister. One would think that he'd be the one with his wand pointed at Scorpius's face.

"Well, when Sean Macmillan starts telling the truth, maybe then you should bloody well believe him," Scorpius spat out. He shoved Albus's wand away from his face. "In the mean time, why don't you sod off and try to attack the one who really did the damage?"

"What are you on about, Malfoy?" Albus demanded, lifting his wand again. Scorpius pulled his out of his robes and aimed it at Albus.

"If you don't get the hell out of my way, Potter, I will hex you. You're shit at non-verbal spells, and you know that I'm not. I'd have you on the floor before you could even think of a protection spell." The threat was real. Scorpius would take certain kinds of crap, when he was actually the culprit. He respected people for trying to get revenge after he'd hexed them silly. But when he was being accused of attacking the girl he'd saved, he wasn't putting up with anything.

"Then explain yourself!" Hugo said from the background. Scorpius let his eyes flick to him. He obviously was not as behind the whole idea as Albus seemed to be.

_Levicorpus!_ Scorpius thought. Both Hugo and Albus were suspended by their ankles, faces red and angry.

"How about you two get your facts straight? I bloody well saved your Rose from her sodding boyfriend, Nate Greengrass. Next time you want to defend her honor, get the bloody right person," Scorpius said. He walked past them, leaving it up to the two of them to say the counter-spell. Almost everyone knew it. Officially, _Levicorpus_ had only been a Ministry-approved spell for about five years, but Scorpius had known it for about double that amount of time. He hadn't actually mastered it until he was 14, but that didn't really matter.

The Great Hall was loud and buzzing. Not many people seemed to know what had happened, and he was grateful for that. He knew that he'd have to put up with loads of crap from his fellow Slytherins. They had a Quidditch match against Hufflepuff that weekend, and losing their best beater to a criminal charge would not put them in the best of moods, especially if Scorpius had been a part of getting him caught.

He ate quietly, nodding as girls and teammates chatted around him. He didn't see anyone's faces really. All he could think about what Rose's lips felt against his own. They'd been soft and sweet. She had talked it off, saying that it was the result of her trauma, but Scorpius wasn't stupid. He'd seen it in her eyes. She'd wanted him. Too bad that she hadn't given him a chance to reciprocate. Rose Weasley deserved a good snog after what she'd been through, and he was the one who would give it to her. As long as she shut up long enough for him to do it. He'd known her long enough to know that she rambled when she was nervous. Her little convoluted explanation had convinced him that she was embarrassed about kissing him.

Who knows when he'd be given another chance to be alone with her? She was most likely going to be taken away by her parents and barred completely from anyone even remotely sympathetic with the House of Slytherin. Once again, he wanted to kill Nate for messing it all up. What a greedy fucking bastard. It wasn't like he had been the best of boyfriends recently.

Scorpius had watched the whole process from his position of popularity. Nate had wooed Rose well, using gifts and poetry to convince her that not all Slytherins, especially Nate, were hateful pricks. Of course it helped that Nate's family were (mostly) clear of Death Eater history. Besides the fact that his aunt (Scorpius's mother) had married a former Death Eater (Scorpius's father), there wasn't so much as a blemish on the Greengrass's name, at least when it came to Death Eaters. And damn it, Rose had fallen for it. Then she put up with his cockiness and, eventually, his downright cruelty. It was sad to see Rose, who could whip up a perfect batch of _Draught of Living Death_ in her sleep, continue to hang out with such a complete and utter prick.

He left dinner before desert appeared, and went into a study room off the main hall. It was empty, and Scorpius sat there, staring at his schoolbag. Then he put his head on the table and wished that he had just admitted his attraction years ago when something might have been able to happen. Sure, he probably would have had to convince Rose a bit to go out with him, but as he was neither popular nor particularly attractive at the time, he might have had a good shot at becoming her boyfriend. Now he was just buggered. He was both popular and good-looking, as well as the cousin of the person who'd attacked her, made her feel weak and hopeless.

Would Rose forever associate him with today? He would always be the guy who's related to her attacker? Would he always be a hero to her? As good as that might sound, it would prevent her from really seeing him, really seeing who he was. As great as being put on the pedestal might sound, it made it impossible for Rose to see him, all of him. Scorpius knew that he wasn't perfect. He could be condescending when it came to magic, uncaring when he was in a bad mood, and timid in an impossible way that just clashed with what everyone perceived him as.

A week later, Rose returned to school. Nate was being detained in a juvenile facility. Even though he was 17 and officially an adult in the wizarding world, his father was a world-class wizard lawyer who specialized in criminal cases. It was likely that Nate would get tried as a juvenile, as his father could make a case that Nate was still in school, and had turned seventeen somewhat recently. By the time Rose got back, everyone knew what had happened. Slytherin won against Hufflepuff, despite what his teammates had told Scorpius when they all first found out that it was he that had gotten Nate into trouble. They'd used their second-string beater and had done fine. Sure, it wasn't the knock-out win they'd expected against Hufflepuff, but a win was a win. They'd go on to face Ravenclaw with a perfect record.

Scorpius dutifully ignored her in the hallways and let her partner with her friends in Potions, Charms, Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts. He watched as they all cooed over her and asked if she really was alright. On the second night she had been back to school, Scorpius headed back from Quidditch practice, sweaty and exhausted. His teammates had taken it upon themselves to Charm the Quaffle so that it never went to him. Which meant that he chased it around uselessly for the last two hours. Despite being the captain, he knew that he had to put up with it all if they were to forgive him. Yes, he hadn't done anything wrong and there was nothing he needed to be forgiven for in the normal way. But he had taken away their beater, and they were angry. Like hazing, he had to put up with it. In another two practices, they would agree he'd had enough, and then they could go back to productive practices. It was just easier to put up with it all now instead of causing a huge rift between him and his team. It was the last thing that he needed.

"Scorpius!" a voice called from a shadowy corner in the hall. He stopped, turned and squinted in the direction the voice had come from.

"Yes?" he said cautiously. Nate had a few fangirls would just love to see him sporting pustules.

"Come here!" it said. Which was when he realized that it was Rose's voice beckoning him from the shadows. He walked slowly over to her, still unable to make out exactly where she was. This part of the corridor wasn't especially well-lit, and she'd chosen the darkest part of it.

"Where are you exactly?" he asked, feeling strangely giddy. His heart was beating hard and his stomach was fluttering. It also all felt very sexy, what with her calling him to come join her in the dark. Of course, it wasn't very probable she wanted to snog the life out of him. She most likely wanted to talk about what had happened to her, and how thankful she was. But why she had to do it in a dark corner, he wasn't entirely sure.

"Right here," she whispered right next to his ear. He swiveled around to see her rippling back into living color. The clever girl had cloaked herself in invisibility.

"What did you want?" he asked. She looked good. Not as in sexy (but that was certainly there in the pout of her lips and then three open buttons in her blouse), but as in healthy. Her eyes weren't red-rimmed or frightened. She looked normal, almost weirdly unaffected.

"You left before we could finish our conversation," she said. Scorpius looked at her. Had she intentionally left three buttons undone?

"Your dad threatened my life. Well, not directly. But I do believe I am included in the 'Slytherin' category," Scorpius said.

"I wouldn't have let him hurt you," she whispered. Scorpius blinked. Had he heard her right?

"Why not? Besides last week, I haven't been particularly kind to you," he said. Not that he'd been particularly _un_kind, either. He'd been pretty neutral with her. Damn him.

"I just-" she started, then shook her head. "It doesn't make sense." She made no further explanation. She stood there before him, searching for something to say.

If only Nurse Harriet had walked out of the room again. He'd have returned her kiss. He'd have snogged her silly. But he couldn't do that here, because it was too much like the passageway he'd found her in. He didn't want to force himself on her, even if he had no intention of hurting her. He'd still have to grab her and make her be quiet. He needed her to make the first move, and it didn't look like she would let herself do that. The problem with Rose was that she overanalyzed things to death. She would take too much time to think through what he meant to her, and all he wanted her to do was look at him the way she had when she'd taken his hand and asked him to stay.

That would be good enough for him.

She looked down at her feet, then at his feet. Her gaze traveled up his practice robes, over his legs and waist, above his chest and shoulders, over his jaw and into his eyes. When her gaze met his, he was wholly taken aback by the desire he saw there. Her eyes sparkled with it.

"Scorpius," she began, then bit her lip. That was enough. All the sign he needed. He stepped into her, cupping her head with one hand and tilting it to meet his lips. With the other hand, he grabbed his waist and pulled her against him. He kissed her lips hard, but not too hard. He wanted to be soft, but his body wasn't letting him be slow and easing. He pulled her bottom lip into his mouth and sucked lightly.

She moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pushing her fingers into his hair. He pushed her against the wall and deepened the kiss, sliding his hand down her waist to her thigh. He moved his hand over her skirt until he could feel her smooth skin. He ran his hand back up, underneath her skirt as he kissed he neck and she breathed heavily into his ear. He sucked where her neck met her shoulder, and she moaned again. He traveled back up her neck to her mouth and kissed her fiercely, pulling the thigh his hand gripped around his hip.

Rose moved to kiss his jaw, and he took his hand out of her hair and moved it to her waist, sliding it up until he cupped her right breast through her shirt. He pushed his pelvis into her and groaned.

"Wait, wait!" she said, stopping her kissing. Scorpius let go of her breast and thigh and stood there, still and waiting for her to say something else. She removed her thigh from his hip and looked up at him as he took a step back. He was harder than he ever remember being, but he wasn't about to beg her not to stop. He would rather nurse a case of severe blue balls than force her into anything, whether it was with his words or by other means.

"What?" he asked, smoothing back the hair that had fallen in his face.

"I...I don't like being exposed like this," she said. "At least, I don't think I do. I never liked it in the past. I'm finding it hard to remember why. But…"

"It's alright, Rose," Scorpius said, even though his raging erection begged him to say otherwise. "We can stop. I'll leave you alone, if you want me to." _Please, please don't want me to._ She looked at him, leveling her gaze with his.

"Come with me to my room, Scorpius," she said.

**A/N:** I wanted to bring in the other family members, and mention some other characters. In my other stories, Nurse Harriet is always the nurse. It's just a little consistency for my brain. I hope you liked Albus and Hugo. Oh, and the whole make-out scene. Sexy! (I hope you agree.) Let me know what you think in a review!


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